1394
'Growth of Stonehearth’s Industrial Revolution' ''Looking toward the Future: “Strong Steam”'' After a decade of lap engines, planetary gears and universal joints, Steam engines of [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/1394_DR 1394] had reinvented themselves in the Stonehearth Merchant Company alone. A few allied partners from The Gate, those willing to make the capital investments, found similar success. The Lantan refugees were taking solace in the same, producing mechanical wonders. There were so many practical applications beyond massive emplacements in somebody’s shop (or the steam-powered “manufactories” – glorified workshops – that were growing around The Gate). Even the hyper-modern “manufactory” was already being slang-shortened to “factory”. Being the cutting edge of development was a bit daunting, but the money and demand of the merchant class were right behind them, taking everything they were creating and demanding ever more. This meant a push towards high-pressure steam, but there were issues… The important advantages of high pressure engines were: *They could be made much smaller than previously for a given power output. There was thus the potential for steam engines to be developed that were small and powerful enough to propel themselves and other objects. As a result, steam power for transportation now became a practicality in the form of ships and land vehicles, which revolutionised cargo businesses, travel, military strategy, and essentially every aspect of society. *Because of their smaller size, they were much less expensive. *They did not require the significant quantities of condenser cooling water needed by atmospheric engines. *They could be designed to run at higher speeds, making them more suitable for powering machinery. The disadvantages were: *In the low pressure range they were less efficient than condensing engines, especially if steam was not used expansively. *They were more susceptible to boiler explosions. Outside of using machined ingots of steel (not yet economically realistic), current boilers weren’t trustworthy at high pressures. The main difference between how high-pressure and low-pressure steam engines work is the source of the force that moves the piston. In first few generations of engines, it is the condensation of the steam that creates most of the pressure difference, causing atmospheric pressure or low-pressure steam to push the piston; the internal pressures never greatly exceed atmospheric pressure. In a high-pressure engine, most of the pressure difference is provided by the high pressure steam from the boiler; the low pressure side of the piston may be at atmospheric pressure or, if it is connected to a condenser, this only provides a small proportion of the pressure difference. ''Stonehearth College: Under Pressure for Horseless Carriages…'' “Strong steam" engineering started by looking at potential applications, then working backwards on how to create an engine to drive it. By the end of the year, there were a dozen projects for steam propelled boats and vehicles. One of the most promising being Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's who demonstrated his "fardier" (steam wagon). It was a higher working pressure than used in most boilers, and seemed reasonably safe given the expensive steel boiler, but the small size gave insufficient steam production rate to allow the fardier to advance more than a few hundred metres at a time before having to stop to raise steam. One enterprising gnome (now residing in The Gate and employed by the SMC), had an idea for a locomotive. Willemus Murrdosh was working on a prototype and several of the engineering-oriented College members jumped aboard… ''Calculating Machines: pushing Natural Philosophy’s models'' The reinvention of the abacus had set the bar for calculations – and it was a high bar indeed – but there were limitations and the cutting edge of the world was starting to find them. Namely, there was only so much they could do given the next stage of “mundane” math that had been created: differential and integral calculus. With major cooperation between the SMC and the Stonehearth College, with proud contributions from the High House of Wonders (the temple to Gond), natural philosophers and engineers invented mechanical calculators. These calculators set off a race within the small intellectual community, using those calculators to devise the next version. Over the next 50 years, each successive model would rise and show its dominance, either overall or in one specialty, then quickly obsolesce as a better way was found. Ideas for a pinwheel calculator were quickly realized, as was Pascal's calculator (used to figure out income tax equations). The Leibniz wheel was invented, and soon after, the arithmometer was mundane magic that actuaries and accountants soon found indispensable. The SMC was using it for for larger business math, while the Stonehearth College was using it for testing scientific models. Once they start using them, it’s a powerful addiction. Category:Hall of Records Category:Timeline